Crescent Moon
Mission Infiltration: It was night time in Atlas where the streets near one of the Atlesian military laboratories were quiet because of the supposed curfew set for the area. It was a cold night with some snow on the sidewalks which were marked with several footprints from Atlesian citizens that traveled during the day. On one of the hotel rooftops, there are two people that can be seen with one young man sitting on the edge of the rooftop while the older man lands near him with his dark green hoverboard, catching the younger man’s attention. “Forest, what took you so long?” The young man with the long, dark blue coat inquires with a chuckle on his face, “Flirting with some girls again?” “Heh, maybe one or two caught my eye when coming back…” The older man with the spiky green hair answers with a small chuckle before jumping down from his hoverboard and soon walking towards his partner, “Though, I did also check around the Military Lab for a while as you asked." “And?” The young man asks, crossing his arms, “Did you find out if the intel report was correct?" It looks like it was since there were two to three armed androids at the entrance.” Forest answers before he takes out his scroll to show his partner his recording that he took of the place,”AK- 130’s I believe. Similar to the ones back in Vale and the ones included in the report. Shameful that they don’t have them upgraded yet… This is going to be a piece of cake, Leo.” “I'm sure that there will be a lot more inside the lab.” Leo replies back after looking at the video carefully, “Who knows what else could be lurking inside… We still have to be careful and we can’t get arrogant.” “I know, I know.” Forest yammers, waving his hand before putting his scroll away in his black jean pocket, “I’ll try not to. Anyway, we should head there. It’s almost mission time.” “Right. We better be on our way.” He nods before he stands and looks to Forest before jumping off the edge of the rooftop to a balcony below, “Let’s go.” ***** After Forest and Leo stealthily rush through the streets, the duo arrive near the laboratory area as they stop their tracks in the middle of the forest surrounding it. The younger mercenary glances out from the the forest tree line at the entrance and sees the two guards standing in front of the doors before turning to Forest. “I only see two of them at the moment and a couple of video cameras…” Leo whispers, “They are both standing guard and haven’t moved.” “So, what should we do?” Forest questions, “Sneak up on them?” “No, that wouldn’t work since there are a few cameras…” He answers, shaking his head, ”We need to shut down the camera system before we go forward, otherwise the military will know that we broke in. Can you do that from here? Surely, you can hack into their camera system.” “Yeah. It’ll be easy since were close enough.” He then takes out his scroll and goes to hack into the Atlesian network in order to shut down the cameras. A couple minutes later, the video camera feeds turn off before a smile appears on Forest’s face. “Ha. Too easy. I also decided to activate the communications scrambler as well.” Forest smirks once he succeeds, “They really have to upgrade their software.” “Good work. Now we can go inside.” Leo answers as Forest puts away his scroll and transforms his weapon, Ira de Huracán into its claymore mode the same time Leo takes out both guns of Lunar Illusion, “Time to take them out.” “Gladly.” With that, they both head out of their hiding spot to get closer to the two androids. As they approach them, they duo take cover at the corner of the building before one of the androids hear movement in the area. It heads towards their location as Leo turns and nods to Forest before he heads out of the hiding area and slices the android in half with his claymore. The other android is alerted by Forest’s slash as it takes out its machine gun, seeing Forest out in the open with the destroyed android. “IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” The android demands a few moments before Leo quickly rushes out and shots a couple of bullets into it and it collapses. After Forest gives a smile and nod of approval to Leo, he hacks into the security door before the duo advance inside to the main lobby. There was a large open seating area with a check in desk that is currently vacant along with a stairway on the left and right leading to the all-around balcony on the second floor. Beyond the check in desk, there are a few doorways that lead to more rooms on the first floor. It was a simple layout as they both see the holographic piece deactivated at the center. Leo grew suspicious as he feels that there is something off about the open area. ‘No guards…’ Leo thinks as he glances around carefully, ‘We turned the camera system is off for this floor so we don’t need to worry about that either…’ His eyes widen for a moment when another thought came to mind about what kind of security there may be. As the thought came to mind, Forest sheathes Ira de Huracán and takes a couple of steps past the younger partner before he instinctively grabs his wrist to stop him. The green haired male turned to him in slight annoyance before Leo releases his hand and takes out a vial of wind dust from a pocket in his bandolier. The younger man proceeds to open the cap to the vial before he releases the contents around the room. A few moments later, red motion sensors appear on the floor. Forest widens his eyes for a moment before he steps back while a sigh escapes his lips. “Good call…” Forest mumbles before they both carefully advance to the closest stairway on the left, “At least they are squares so they are easy to avoid… We need to go on the second floor in order to reach the office on the third floor. There’s another staircase we need that isn’t here and is further down.” Leo nods to him as he follows his partner to the second floor. Forest places more wind dust down before they advance further down the hallway. As they stop at an intersection, there are no more sensors that they can see before Forest waves to Leo over to right before taking the right with him following. As they approach a corner during their infiltration, Forest stops Leo and step back a bit before the duo spots two androids walk past them. They then advance before entering into one of the large research lab areas, however they both trip a sensor that is at the entrance as they enter. There were many computer terminals that looked like one that would be seen in military bases with a large open area and quite a few inactive androids on both the opposite and left sides of the room. There were also many inventions in their prototype phases around the area in different stations including weapons and other kinds of androids. “This seems more like a military base rather than a laboratory…” Leo whispers to himself, looking around the area. “I know right? Let’s be glad that none of the androids are active…” Forest comments, “Come on, there’s an open gateway here.” As Forest approaches the open gateway, it quickly shuts along with the entrance which locks the duo into the room. Forest’s eyebrows furrow before he quickly reunites with his partner that is in the center of the room with his sword in hand. Leo eyes widen in shock for a moment before he takes out both pistols of Lunar Illusion before his expressions turns serious, turning his head toward Forest. “Shit… We were being so careful…” Forest curses under his breath, “We must’ve tripped a sensor coming in here.” “Probably.” Leo answers back, “But, being locked in here is going to become the least of our worries.” “Aw come on, Leo. Why do you say that?” “Because we’re about to have a lot of androids to deal with…” A few moments after Leo states that fact, a few of androids activate, arm themselves with either their fists, swords, or guns and surround the duo. Their only option is to the fight as both Forest and Leo are prepared to take them down. A smirk appears on Forest’s face as one of the androids recites the same line as the one from earlier while Leo glances at the ones that were a couple feet from him with an index finger on each trigger. “Looks like we're gonna have some fun after all...” Forest says before he quickly charges and pierces the androids with the claymore form of Ira de Huracán before slashing another. With that, the fight begins as the androids charge at the two intruders and Forest continues to slash them down one at a time. Meanwhile, Leo lets off a few bullets at the androids on his side, taking one out at a time when he blasts a bullet from each one into its head and chest areas. After taking out five androids with his dual guns, he transforms both of Lunar Illusion’s guns into their sword tonfa mode and charges at a couple more, taking them out after a couple slashes while slamming against another. Forest sends an aura wave at a couple of androids before stabbing through another and eventually the duo wind up back to back as they are surrounded again. Leo and Forest let off a couple of dust and aura waves respectively from their weapons before they kick them back to give them space to fight. After a few minutes of fighting, there were several broken androids that litter the ground as a few more remain on their feet and while Forest eliminates one, the door that closed finally reopened so the duo can advance while Leo changes Lunar Illusion back to its gun form. “Finally. Let’s go.” Forest smirks as he slashes down another while Leo jumps back and shoots the androids that come close to the both of them. Shortly after Leo lands and the four androids collapse to the ground, he transforms his guns to its sword tonfa mode once more before he goes close combat to eliminate the last one that was behind them. Leo catches up with Forest as the duo head through the doorway and up the stairs before they arrive on the designated floor that the main control room was located. “Not much longer now!” Forest shouts to his compatriot while they quickly rush up the staircases, “The control room is at the end of the hallway of this coming floor!” “They’re probably more guards coming up!” Leo exclaims back before they reach the next floor, “Don’t get careless!” “Aw, come on. It’s not like they’re going to get the drop on us.” Forest remarks running across the hall towards the control room, “We can take them on with ease.” Leo cautiously glances around the next floor before he sees a veteran soldier with a group of five androids start to head out of one of the hallways ahead of them. “Forest! Wait!” Leo warns with a shout before he begins to catch up to him, “Watch out!” The green haired gang member quickly stops in his tracks from his friend’s warning before the veteran soldier charges and sends a wave of fire dust at him with his zweihander. Caught off guard, Forest flies back from the hit and hits the wall back first across from his attacker. Leo stands dumbfounded once he finally catches up to where he was before turning to the veteran, clenching the sword tonfas in his hands. “A good effort. I will admit that the both of you have made it far with your tenacity and might, but this is where it ends.” The veteran soldier admits before barking his orders to the newer group of androids, “Attack!” While the veteran soldier start to make his way to the control room the androids begin to shoot towards Leo and Forest. The black haired mercenary immediately jumped to the other corridor and summoned out a lunar barrier to protect him and Forest from the android gun shots. A few moments later, Forest finally came to before he glances at Leo in shock. “Leo… What happened?! Forest exclaims, picking up his claymore and shakily stands to his feet, “Where is that geezer who got that lucky shot on me?!” “He headed to the control room. We need to get through these guys first!” Leo answers, glaring at him while holding up the barrier, “That’s why you don’t run head first! We could’ve been smarter about this.” “I get it, but we need to get that information!” Forest barks back, charging his claymore with lightning dust before glancing back at Leo with a serious look, “I’m ready for them. Put down your barrier and jump back next to me!” “Got it.” Leo answers back before making his barrier disappear and jumping back beside him. Once Leo does that, Forest sends a couple of waves from Ira de Huracán and takes out three of the androids by slicing them in half. A couple of huffs escape Forest’s lips before Leo transforms Lunar Illusion to its dual sword staff mode and charges at the remaining two androids. The two androids fire at him while he approaches them, spinning his weapon rapidly in his hands, deflecting most of them with only four of the bullets hitting his body before he slices them both in half, destroying the last of them. “Good work, Leo!” Forest comments, walking up behind him before they make their way down to the control room, “Now, lets get that geezer and get the information!” “Right. Lets try not to kill him though.” Leo remarks while jogging alongside Forest, “We only need the information.” “Leo. I know how you feel about killing other people, but he is in our way to get the information.” Forest warns, taking a quick glance at him, “He’s seen us and cannot be left alive or else we’ll be hunted down by the Atlesian military.” ‘I know he has a point. But… There must be some way to save him.’ Leo thinks after listening to Forest’s answer. “Hey… If you’re not comfortable with it, I will take care of him after we get the information.” Forest answers sympathetically before his lips curve into a smirk, “I have to get payback for what he did earlier…” “…Fine. Though, who is going to believe him anyway? He is an elderly man after all.” Leo points out, “Even if he does tell, he’s going to be considered crazy without any proof.” “That may be true, but that doesn’t mean he won’t let us escape here unless we defeat him.” Forest says back before sighing, “We’ll play this by ear. If he still threatens our escape after we get the information, we will have to fight him. If he still poses a threat after he is defeated, I will kill him. That way, you won’t get your hands dirty with murdering a human that was only doing their job.” “Thank you.” Leo nods, “Though, if he doesn’t give up… I will do it. At that point, he’ll be a fool for not having us spare him and I have gotten my hands dirty with other people who have stood in our way. I just don’t want to have unnecessary violence if it can be avoided.” “Leo…” Forest trails off in surprise before they reach the door to the control room before his expression becomes serious, “Ok. Ready for this? You distract the geezer while I hack into their system to extract the information we need for their latest project. I’ll help you with him after I get the information we need.” “Yeah.” Leo answers with a firm nod, rushing to the door behind him, “I will hold him off the best I can until you finish. How long will it take you to get the information?” “About two to five minutes at most. Can you handle that?” “Of course I can.” “Good. Let’s head in.” Once Forest and Leo enter the control room, they finally see the supercomputer across from them behind the black and white armored veteran soldier. The soldier glares at the duo before he draws his zweihander from his back and leans its blade on his shoulder with one hand on the handle. “You are both much stronger than I gave you credit for. But, I refuse to allow you to advance any further.” The veteran soldier states before moving his weapon to point the blade at the duo, “For I, Gawain Magne, will now take you on with my own might!” While Leo prepares himself to attack him by transforming Lunar Illusion to its sword tonfa mode, Forest takes a couple steps back to transform Ira de Huracán into its hoverboard mode before hopping onto it. The veteran soldier sends a couple of fire waves at the duo before charging towards them. Leo quickly creates a barrier to briefly protect himself from his fire waves before he is barely able to block Gawain’s zweihander with both his sword tonfas before he feels himself pushed back towards the wall by his strength. Meanwhile, Forest manages to escape Gawain’s sight as he quickly hovers to the supercomputer and places the special drive into one of the USB ports, seeing the download commence. He then turns to witness the battle between Leo and Gawain, he glance turning to slight shock when he sees Leo barely sidestep in time before Gawain Magne collides with the wall. Leo transforms Lunar Illusion to its double sword staff form before he activates the lightning dust while Magne slowly turns back to his opponent. “Good move.” He admits, easily removing his zweihander before charging at him again, “Though it will take much more to defeat me.” Leo decides to make a bold move once Gawain tries to horizontally slash him with the zweihander by jumping up and landing on it before jumping away from him and landing towards the center of the room, not before releasing a couple of lightning waves at him. The soldier is caught off guard before he stumbles back from his lightning waves, shaking his head before he glances at his attacker while catching his breath. The swordsman then takes a quick glance at Forest, wondering when he is able to jump in and how much longer it will take for the desired data to get extracted before letting off another wave at his opponent. The soldier barely protects himself from the lightning wave with his zweihander before being pushed back a couple inches. During the scuffle, Forest briefly glances back at Leo before he sees the data file finally finish its download into the drive. He quickly removes it, places it into his pocket, and transforms Ira de Hurcan into its shock blaster mode before firing a couple of lightning shots at Gawain to which he counters with a lightning wave, canceling both attacks out upon contact. Leo gives a nod to Forest while keeping his guard, a serious expression still on his face. “Did this guy give you that much of an issue?” Forest questions with some concern before a smirk appears on his face before Leo glares at him in annoyance, “Guess you really do need me.” “You should not think lowly of him. He has managed to hold his own against me and has been fighting honorably unlike yourself who just used him to buy yourself time to get the data.” Gawain interrupts before pointing his weapon at Forest, “If I did not know any better, you must either be weaker than him or much lazier.” This comment strikes one of Forest's nerves before he glares at the veteran and rashly transforms his weapon into its claymore form. Leo glances at Forest, ready to help before the older man stops him and shakes his head. “You’ll regret those words, old man.” Forest snarls before he charges at Gawain, his claymore clashing with his zweihander. “Ah, you can fight after all.” Gawain says with a sarcastic awe before pushing him back with his zweihander, “Show me what you are capable of then.” Forest and Gawain clash blades with each other, exchanging their blows while Leo witnesses it out of respect for his friend’s decision to take care of him himself. The duo slash at each other and manage to hit each other within their scuffle. A few minutes later, Forest heavily pants between the hits to his aura and the strength he used against his opponent while holding himself upright with his weapon. Gawain on the other hand, begins to give light heaves from exerting himself just a little too much when fighting both Leo and Forest. “Do you wish to forfeit? It does not seem like you will last much longer, judging by the lack of aura.” Gawain offers while leaning his hands on the hilt once he sticks the zweihander into the ground, “It’s not too late to stop here.” “…Never.” Forest mumbles in hostility, removing his jacket with drive inside before he activates the lightning dust in Ira de Hurcan. Gawain glances at Forest with a stern expression before it turns into shock when he sees Forest run the electricity from the lightning dust around his arms before the electricity surrounds his body. A devilish smirk appears on Forest’s face as Leo glances at him in surprise before grabbing his jacket that was thrown aside. Gawain stances himself to counter him with his zweihander in both hands before Forest charges at him with the electricity surrounding him and his weapon. When both of them cross each other for their final blow against each other with their respective weapons, they both stand on opposite sides of each other. Forest feels himself collapse to his knees in fatigue, the electricity disappearing before Gawain turns to them both, appearing unscathed with the electricity surging around him “Nice try, but you have-”The soldier abruptly cuts off before he collapses on the floor, his zweihander falling next to him as he falls stomach first to the ground blacking out. Leo heads over to Forest with his jacket when he glances at him with some concern before his friend rises to his feet. “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him. He’s only unconscious.” Forest assures, standing to his feet and confiscating his jacket from Leo, “Boy, he did give quite a fight, didn’t he?” “Yeah, he definitely did.” Leo nods before he transforms his weapon to its gun form before placing them in their holsters, “I assume you got the information?” “About the Aura Suit Project? Of course.” Forest nods confidently, sheathing Ira de Huracan on his back, “I also grabbed other pieces of information that I will look at later. Now, let’s get out of here and report back to the base. I’ll inform Volkan on what happened on the way back.” “Right, let’s go.” Leo answers back before they head out of the Control Room to escape with the information they had retrieved. The sooner I return to Vale, the sooner I can hopefully reunite with my family… ***** <------ Winter Snow Preview Moonlight Blossom Preview ------> Gallery MLIT Second Reveal.png|Team MLIT Second Reveal Leo & forest Web.jpg| Leo's Mission with Forest vs Androids